I'm getting discouraged

[NurseAlzar, ASN, BSN, RN]

Hello Everyone,

I took the Rn-Nclex twice a couple of months ago and I did not pass it. I took a break while the holidays were going on (close to a mth on break) and now I'm starting up again. I have a tutor that I started with the about a mth ago and it's been going good. Now start of the new year I started back on track, I took one practice test and scored 53% then I took another one and half way I stopped because most of the answers I got wrong I picked it instead of choosing the correct answer which I knew in the first place.

I am starting to second guess myself if I'm in the right career. It took me years to finally realize that I enjoyed going into the nursing path, but I was/am so afraid of this stupid test. Couple of my friends have taken the NCLEX and either have passed on the first shot or others passed on the second. I'm embarrassed to take it again and fail for the third time. I've been procrastinating for the past couple of days just to take practice tests or even look at my flash cards to once again relearn the labs.

Lastly, part of my frustration is a schedule change at work. Instead of working 12hr shifts for 3 days, I have to work regular hours M-Fri 9-5pm. Come home cook, deal with family which consist of a teenager, 2yr old and husband. By the time I come around to studying I'm tired and it's time for bed.

Please share any suggestions..

Thanks in advanced,

Janet

[Gooselady, BSN, RN]

What KIND of questions are you getting wrong? Are they in a certain area like pharmacology, obgyn . . .?

If not that, are the questions you miss 'similar' in some other way?

It's been 23 plus years since I took the NCLEX (it was still on paper ) but when I was the 'senior class tutor' I remember a lot of students struggling with the multiple choice format of the questions. It's like all those possible answers just drove people's anxiety through the roof, so they were second and third-guessing themselves. The 'missed' questions were often missed more because of anxiety and panic than knowledge deficit.

In a multiple choice question, you have four choices. At least one option is 'ridiculous' and obviously wrong. Then, you identify one more 'obviously' wrong choice, and set that aside too. Most often you are left with two choices that look someone similar but only one of them is correct.

Once you are down to two choices, take a deep breath and reread the question, and then reread the remaining choices.

Don't ignore those moments of 'intuition' that suddenly make one choice look better than the other. If you really are at a loss to determine which choice is correct, that 'intuition' is quite trustworthy.

And you've heard this -- don't go back and change your answers.

If you get 'stuck' trying to choose between two possible answers, move on (can you do that with computer testing?). Come back to it after a few minutes, your brain will kinda 'reset' and BOING, intuition might kick in, or a sudden memory from coursework or clinicals :)

Perfectly intelligent persons struggle with this test format! But it is the BEST format to determine the special mix of critical thinking and factual knowledge that will BEST ensure a successful career in nursing. Best of luck to you, it's not time to give up yet :)